Northern Switchgear Senior Football Championship
Group 2
St Brigids 0-15 Portglenone 1-9
Paul McIntyre reports from Musgrave Park
A scoring burst of 0-5 in the opening minutes of the second half helped propel St Brigids to a deserving three point win over Portglenone at Musgrave Park on Wednesday evening.
Any win in championship football is a big result, but in terms of the state of play in Group 2, it’s a massive result for the South Belfast outfit.
Coming into this game Ahoghill joined St Brigids and Portglenone on 2 points from two games played. While Portglenone now sit bottom of the three team section, they do boast the better score difference between the three sides and this may prove to be a deciding factor if all teams were to finish level.
While 0-15 is still a good scoring return, St Brigids also kicked ten wides and drop three short into Ryan O’Neill’s hands in the Ports goal over the hour. Time will tell if these missed opportunities will come back to haunt the Biddies, but it was also an indication of their dominance over the hour.
Led by the rock solid Conor King and the experienced James Loughrey at the back, St Brigids were at their most dangerous turning over the Casements and breaking at speed with Peter Henvey and, Conor McAleer and James Smith proving to be more than a handful for a defensive unit which badly missed the organisation and go forward of Dermot McAleese.
It was a bright opening from both sides. Michael Hagan cancelled out an early McAleer score before Niall Delargy did likewise in the fifth minute.
A 45 from Paddy Kelly gave Portglenone a one point lead in the ninth minute, which they held until the 16th minute when Jack Dowling powered his way through the heart of the visitors defence to restore parity at 0-3.
A needless foul on Rory Brolly in the corner saw Henvey convert from the unlikeliest of angles, bur Ronan Delargy quickly made amends for his indiscretion with a wonderful solo effort and the teams were tied again before the games first telling moment.
Niall McKeever’s effort dropped short under the crossbar, and as Declan Heery failed to deal with the high ball, Hagan nipped in the punch to the net for a three point lead in the 23rd minute.
McAleer quickly steadied the St Brigids ship from a free but Ports half back Ruairi Hagan was on hand to restore their three point advantage, but another effort from Dowling and McAleer’s fourth point ensured that just the bare minimum separated the side at the break, 1-5 to 0-7 in favour of the visitors.
The opening period of the second half belonged to St Brigids.
After McAleer levelled the tie in the opening attack, further scores quickly followed through Brolly, Joseph Finnegan, Henvey and McAleer.
Henvey’s score the pick of the bunch with the move starting in their own half back line following a great block from Boyle.
St Brigids now led 0-12 to 1-5 but Portglenone gave themselves a glimmer of hope when Ronan Kelly pointed with the last kick of the third quarter, their first score in over 22 minutes of play.
Conor Delargy and Conor McGee were sprung from the bench and managed to their names on the scoresheet as Barry Dillon’s side tried to find a way back into the contest, but St Brigids replacements Paul McComiskey and Peter Webb brought new energy to the St Brigids attack and together with McAleer, they helped their side open up a four point lead as the game ticked into stoppage time.
A Hagan free with the last kick of the game only served to take a little gloss off the score for St Brigids and Anthony McGrath’s side held out for a deserving three point win.
Teams & Scorers:
Declan Heery, Peter King, Conor King, John Morgan, Ronan Boyle, James Loughrey, Oran Boyle, John Toner, Jack Dowling (0-2), Patrick Finnegan, Peter Henvey (0-2 1f), Joseph Finnegan (0-1), Conor McAleer (0-7 4f), James Smith, Rory Brolly (0-1).
Subs: Paul McComiskey (0-1f) for J Finnegan (39), Ryan Tweedy for Brolly (47), Michael Cummings for Loughrey (51), Peter Webb (0-1) for Smith (54).
Portglenone: Ryan O’Neill, Johnny Convery, Shane Delargy, Ronan Delargy (0-1), Ryan Convery, Ruairi Hagan (0-1), Caolan Tierney, Niall McKeever, Fergal O’Kane, Michael Donnelly, Niall Delargy (0-1), Oisin Doherty, Michael Hagan (1-2 1f), Ronan Kelly (0-1), Paddy Kelly (0-1 ‘45’).
Subs: A. McAleese for O’Kane (35), Conor Delargy (0-1f) for Doherty (37), Conor McGhee (0-1) for P. Kelly (41), Michael Kelly for Tierney (41).
Referee: Mr Kevin Parke (Naomh Éanna)
